I appreciate your perspective and completely understand why you don’t share my idealism. History certainly gives us more than enough reason to be cynical, and I don’t disagree that power and corruption have always found a way to sustain themselves. However, if we accept defeat before we even explore possibilities, then we’re only reinforcing the very power structures we lament.
On a personal note, this thread is part of a broader effort I’m trying to make on this forum. In a previous discussion (this thread), I was challenged to engage in topics I appealed for, specifically beyond American politics. Hopefully thought-provoking subjects, even when it requires effort to keep them alive, will foster others to raise similarly diverse subjects we can explore as a community, rather than perpetually re-stake familiar positions around the same subject.
tn the current Western political landscape, I struggle to see how real change can be effected through voting alone, and I’ve tried to explore those sentiments in this thread. With entrenched duopolies that overwhelmingly serve the interests of the elite and ruling class rather than the general population, the mechanisms of traditional democracy feel increasingly inadequate. I find conversations like this restorative - exploring ideas outside the narrow confines of electoral politics, rather than simply picking between two options that predominantly maintain the status quo. Over my years here I’ve found many forum members to be incredibly intelligent, thoughtful, and interesting - those are the interactions I want to foster.
So, while I respect your skepticism, I’d also challenge you to think about whether dismissing the possibility of change only serves to reinforce the status quo. Even if the future isn’t utopian, does that mean we shouldn’t try to make it better?